Standard Member

Having changed from a normal stereo hi fi set up (NAD 350 amp) to home cinema (Yamaha DSP AX640SE) I thought I would go against my beliefs and to save space use just my surround amp for movies and for music.

However, I just can't put up with the drop in quality of stereo music so thought I would put back into the system my NAD amp. Following advice on several websites i've connecting the two amps together using the pre-outs on the AV amp to the Ins on the NAD so that powers the two front speakers for stereo and surround sound and have CD / Tuner / Turntable fed into the NAD.

Now the problem, surround sound works perfectly but stereo sound results in no output whatsoever! I'm sure i've done something obviously wrong (bearing in mind I set about this after a night in the pub!) but am not sure what.

Can anyone give any details on exactly what connects to what so i can regain music playback through the NAD while being integrated into a surround setup? I cannot see what can be causing this and really can't put up with the rubbish stereo playback much longer.

Guest

Why not seperate the 2 systems?
Have all your AV gear plugged into the AV amp. Plug your CD player, turntable
& tuner plugged into the NAD. Run a set of speaker cables from each amp to a speaker switch box, wire your main speakers into this.
Something like this will do the trick.
If you get a decent quality switch then your music setup should sound just like it did before.

Banned

Hi with the Nad you can remove the jumper on the back between the pre and power section... Is this what you have done, and put the pre outs from the A/V amp into the input of hte power amp on the NAD.

If so then that is the cause because now you have completely removed the link from the pre amp section of the NAD to the power amp section.

What you would need to do to use the pre amp as well as the power amp section would be to change it so that the A/V amp just went into one of the inputs Aux or whatever you choose on the NAD. The trouble is doing this means that you have to ensure you always have the NAD at the same volume when you select this input to get it at the right level.

If you leave the link out on the back then the only ohter way is to go from the pre amp section of the NAD into an input on the a/V amp and put it into bypass mode so it doesn't do any processing, this sounds horrible and I would think it would be hardly if any improvement over the A/V as a pre so probably isn't worth bothering with.

Ghod i'm sure i've made a mess of this post I know what I mean just not very good at explaining it.

But I think you've set the NAD up just to be a power amplifier by having the A/V amp going directly into the power amp section of it.

Standard Member

Many thanks for the suggestions. I seem to have cracked it now though.

I did indeed remove the link at the back of the NAD amp between the main in and pre out 2 sockets. I then connected the outs on the AV to the main in on the NAD.

The problem seemed to be where I had my CD / Tuner / Turntable plugged in, i.e. the NAD (as I had read to do on several websites). Having swapped them over and put them into the AV amp instead I am now getting far superior stereo sound again.

To be perfectly honest i'm not entirely sure as to what part of which amp is doing what but the sound is back to how it was before. I obviously have to have both amps switched on and it seems a bit funny to me that the inputs go from source -> AV amp -> NAD -> speakers and it improves the sound(!) but it is genuinly a better result.

With regards to the NAD volume it makes no difference where it is set and has no control at all, volume is done through the AV amp.

Well-known Member

Most people say that its the preamps on the av stuff that makes for a poorer sound ,the way you have it connected your using the nad as a power amp.I have connected an amp to the av amp myself in the past but the difference wasn't worth messing around with 2 amps although it was better.I can't belive that the yam is that bad with music, the amps must be really poor if by just using the nad's amps things are improved that much.

Standard Member

Most people say that its the preamps on the av stuff that makes for a poorer sound ,the way you have it connected your using the nad as a power amp.I have connected an amp to the av amp myself in the past but the difference wasn't worth messing around with 2 amps although it was better.I can't belive that the yam is that bad with music, the amps must be really poor if by just using the nad's amps things are improved that much.

Click to expand...

don't you believe it I used to use a pair of DPA (anybody remember them?) 200s power Amps connected to the front pre outs on my Yamaha DSP AX 750 Se and this completely blew away what the Yamaha could produce by itself.

I only removed the DPA's from the system when the Yamaha was replaced by the Denon 3805, mainly to rationalise the number of boxes and cables in the system. The DPA's were still better than the Denon but the gap was small enough that I could get used to the idea. However as some sod on E-Bay has let me down about buying them. The DPA's still reside in chez Lee and I'm mighty temped to put them back into the system.

Well-known Member

I do believe it because i've done it i couldn't here any diference when using the preamp on either only when i used the separate amp as a power amp showing how poor the amp s in the av amp were ,it just wasn't a big diffference .The power amp was more controled at higher volume and the sound didn't close in like with the av, i suppose if i listened at higher volumes it would have been worth it.I can see that power amps are a worth while upgrade if you need the power to fill a larger room ,it doesn't take much from the amp to fill my little room with sound.

Standard Member

I suppose how well it works comes down to how well you know a piece of music and how you listen to it.

Just using the Yamaha AV amp for stereo resulted in the music not having the same tight attack and overall impact (the goose bump effect!). I guess if you were listening to stuff you didn't know so well you wouldn't notice as much difference.

I also use headphones quite a lot for some loud level listening and the Yamaha was a disaster with that! It would go loud but give slight edge distortion or overally bassy sound again that would swamp everything without the tight attack I was used to.

Certainly an improvement having the NAD in the setup even if this is getting on a bit now!